L.L. Cool J 1968–

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L.L. Cool J 1968–

Rap artist, actor

Demonstrated Commitment to Social Concerns

In the turbulent climate of rap music, careers are often brief moments of success crested atop long stretches of obscurity. For L.L. Cool J, this is not so, as he has both helped laid down the groundwork for rap during the genre’s early days as well as refining and reinventing it for over a decade. A veteran in a field with few veterans, Cool J has broken numerous commercial records, as well as artistic barriers by appealing to so-called “crossover” audiences and dabbling in acting. A working dynamo, the rapper sees his longevity as only just beginning. “I hate when people say ‘still’,” he was quoted on the Def Jam homepage. “Imagine asking a doctor, ‘Yo man, you still a doctor?’ It’s not like I’m fighting to stay above water, I’m swimming and I got a shark fin going at 100 miles per hour.”

Growing up in the tough neighborhood of St. Alban’s in Queens, New York immediately provided Cool J, born James Todd Smith in 1968, with the tenacity and experience that has shaped many rappers. However, unlike many of his “gangsta” contemporaries, Cool J later celebrated the strength gained from his youth, but not affiliations with gangs. “I did everything you could possibly name in the street,” Cool J told Vibe magazine.

“I really came from that realness. I have that Queens experience on my mind, and it’ll never leave me. The things I’ve been through… the gunshots fired at me because me and my friend put blanks inside snowballs and threw them on people’s wind-shields. We was nuts to a certain extent, but for the most part, I’m glad I did everything I did because it helped mold me as a person.”

Became a Teenage Superstar

Not only did the streets provide Cool J with life lessons, they also became the medium in which he engaged in rapping, at a very young age. Experimenting from age nine, Cool J was fronting local rap crews at 11 years old, and in less than two years was tinkering with recording equipment. After his grandfather bought him a two-track recorder in lieu of a dirtbike, the precocious Cool J cut his first demo tapes when only thirteen, and soon began mailing them out. When the tapes captured the attention of producers Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, founders of the budding label Def Jam, Cool J was almost immediately locked on a track for stardom.

At a Glance…

Born James Todd Smith, 1968, in St. Alban’s, Queens, NY; married high school sweetheart Simone in 1995; children—Najee, Italia, and Samaria.

Released first 12″ single, “I Need A Beat,” and first album, Radio, Def Jam label, 1984, 1985, respectively; performed on the Raising Hell Tour alongside Run DMC and The Beastie Boys, 1986; released album Bigger And Deffer and became the first rap artist to hit Billboard Black Singles Chart, 1987; became the first rapper to grace the cover of Ebony magazine, 1987; visited the Ivory Coast for a benefit concert, 1988; released fourth album, Mama Said Knock You Out, 1990; made debut movie appearance in The Hard Way, 1991; became first rapper on MTV’s Unplugged series, 1991; star of NBC/UPN series In The House, 1995-; released All World Greatest Hits, 1996; co-author of autobiography (w/Karen Hunter), I Make My Own Rules (St. Martin’s Press), 1997; Seventh album, Phenomenon, 1997.

Awards : Village Voice Album of the Year Award, 1990; Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year in NY Music Awards, 1991; Grammy Award for Mama Said Knock You Out, 1991; Ten various Soul Train Awards.

Addresses : Record Label—Def Jam Recordings, 652 Broadway, New York, NY, 10012.

In 1984, a time when rap music was only just gaining credibility with mass audiences, Def Jam was a gutsy venture to begin with. However, by releasing then 16 year old Cool J’s “I Need A Beat” as their maiden single, Rubin and Simmons were taking a true risk. Their conviction of Cool J’s talents were founded, and the single took off in popularity. A year later, Cool J recorded his debut album Radio for Def Jam, also their first long player, to the approval of many sectors. Called “the most engaging and original rap album of the year” by Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau, the album was a showcase of bass-driven favorites such as “Rock The Bells” as well as tender ballads, justifying his full moniker, Ladies Love Cool James. The album went platinum, as did all of Cool J’s full-length releases from that point on.

Already a recording star, Cool J quickly proved to be a powerful live presence as well. He was invited to perform in the rap film Krush Groove to deliver a version of his song “I Can’t Live Without My Radio.” Within the next several years, Cool J would figure prominently in several major rap tours under the Def Jam banner—the Raising Hell Tour of 1986, featuring Run DMC and the Beastie Boys, and the Def Jam Tour a year after, whose roster included Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, and Whodini. “See L.L. live,” urged L.A. Times critic Robert Hilburn, “and it’s easy to understand why he is emerging as a legitimate culture hero. His confidence and way with rhymes suggest a young Mohammed Ali, but some of his stage antics are reminiscent of Prince,” he continued. With his low brimmed floppy cap and massive gold chains, Cool J’s image neatly summed up all that was “old school” rap.

With the release of his second album in 1987, Bigger and Deffer, Cool J scored with audiences across the board, helping to broaden the barriers of rap listeners. The album’s single “I Need Love” became the first rap song to top Billboard magazine’s R&B chart, and proved that rap could embrace romantic modes, even while Spin magazine called Bigger and Deffer “arguably the heaviest rock ‘n’ roll record ever released on a major label”. As the album joined Radio in platinum territory, Cool J’s track “Going Back To Cali” for the film Less Than Zero help push that movie’s soundtrack to gold sales.

Demonstrated Commitment to Social Concerns

By the end of the 1980s, Cool J began to show a genuine commitment to social issues. In November of 1988, he performed in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast as a benefit to a local hospital, and consequently was crowned honorary Chief Kwasi Achi-Brou by the elder council of the nearby village Gran-Bassan. In addition to later appearing in a pervasive set of drug awareness public service announcements for television, Cool J was approached by then First Lady Nancy Reagan to headline an anti-drug benefit concert at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. Just as the general public was developing uneasiness over a link between rap music, gang violence, and narcotic addiction, Cool J stood firm on the issue. “Kids come to my show to have fun, not to hear how bad the world is,” he was quoted in the Def Jam homepage. “I don’t promote violence and I don’t promote drugs, simple as that.”

Cool J continued to release platinum selling albums, as well as amassing awards and nominations for his recordings. Although the massive 18 track Walking With A Panther, released in 1989 was perhaps Cool J’s low point among critics, it was still a commercial smash, and harbored at least one truly impressive single, “I’m That Type Of Guy.” However, the 1990 follow up, Mama Said Knock You Out, was almost immediately accepted as Cool J’s best album yet, through which he “reclaim[ed] his persona as the most articulated of homeboys, above uncluttered funk riffs assembled by the producer Marley Marl,” as New York Times columnist Jon Pareles assessed. Indeed, while the album contained some of Cool J’s smoothest compositions, such as the memorable “Around The Way Girl,” yet another single which peaked on multiple charts, it was the bass thumping, confident drive of “The Boomin’System” and the album’s title cut which gave Mama Said Knock You Out its appeal. As Cool J stated in an America Online interview, the title song was “a testament to the fact that no matter how rough times get and no matter how tough times get, you should never give up because that was the entire premise of that song. I was at a rough time in my life and I was inspired by my grandmother to get out there and knock them out!”

Parlayed Into Film and Television

The onset of the 1990s saw Cool J explore the media of film and television, both as a musician and as an actor. On the big screen, he turned in an impressive performance as an undercover cop in the drama The Hard Way in 1991, which led to a part in director Barry Levinson’s 1992 film Toys. For MTV, Cool J took part in two groundbreaking specials, both in 1991. In May, he performed acoustic versions of songs such as “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Jingling Baby” for the popular series Unplugged, and was the first rap artist to do so. Shortly thereafter, he appeared in the music network’s History of Rap documentary, discussing classic rap acts like Afrika Bambaata and The Sugarhill Gang, as rap began to get the recognition it deserved as a cultural phenomenon. In addition, Cool J even was given his own television series, In The House, first shown on the NBC network, then switched to the UPN network.

By the 1990s, rap had undergone a myriad of changes and upheavals, branching into countless factions and styles, and Cool J’s next several albums proved that he was able to retain his vitality throughout. His 1993 album 14 Shots To Dome was memorable, and provided the rapper with yet another platinum-seller. Mr. Smith, released in 1995, rated as one of the artist’s most successful fusions of hard-edged attitude and laid back eroticism. As Rolling Stone critic Cheo H. Coker noted, Mr. Smith did not always “deliver the haymaker punches of Mama Said Knock You Out, but it has enough force to prove that the king from Queens is no punk,” with the highly sexual singles “Doin’ It” and “Hey Lover” among the highlights. A year later, the retrospective album All World Greatest Hits hit record stores, which spanned a decade of Cool J’s career, and in the process, ten years in the history of rap music. Never one to rest on his laurels, Cool J showed every intention of continuing to expand his career and musical style, and at the same time remain a devoted father. As he told Vibe magazine, “I keep it all in perspective. At the end of the day, I’m not doin’ this just to see how many women I can get or how many gold chains I can wear. I’m doin’ this so my family can sleep comfortable at night. That’s why I break my neck where most people think I wouldn’t have to.”